Prosecutors: New York pediatrician sentenced to 30 years for child sex exploitation

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. – A New York pediatrician who pleaded guilty to federal child exploitation charges has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Fifty-seven-year-old Rakesh Punn was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Central Islip.

Prosecutors say he abused young patients, photographed them and submitted false insurance claims for the visits.

Punn initially was charged with abusing three children under the guise that he was giving them medical treatment. He admitted in April 2014 to sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl who was a patient in his office in Bethpage, Long Island.

Punn also pleaded guilty in 2014 to similar charges in Nassau County. He has since surrendered his medical license and is scheduled to be sentenced in that case next month.